Pre-surgery my nurse kindly asked, Do you have a living will? and I naively responded, No, I dont have anything of value. As a recent grad gearing up to move to Chicago, I didnt realize that a living ensured my wishes would be carried out if something were to go wrong in surgery. And my wishes and my life are something of valuejust in a different way from my response then.
Of course, nothing did go wrong, but the simple fact with wills is this: By the time you really need one, its typically too late. We dont want to think about the unspeakable happening to ourselves or to our spouses, but the reality of life is a multitude of unknowns.
Through our German Exchange Adult experience, we met marketing/PR guru Lisa Mariscal who helped us arrange Nicks will donation to Chicago.Momslikeme.com; check it out here: chicago.momslikeme.com/members/JournalActions.aspx
The moms comments below the prize info are truly insightful and packed with firsthand accounts of why these documents are so important. As poster TheToyIsMoms writes, Awesome prize! A will guarantees the things you leave behind goes to the people you want to have them. It is not always about items with monetary value, it can be sentimental value as well.
These ladies again and again refer to the peace of mind these documents provideyoure not planning for when tragedy strikes; youre planning for the what ifs in life just like my favorite ad campaign touts. We cant even decide on a guardian for our four-legged Wrigley Bear so I cant imagine the stress of deciding guardianship for children. But in this arena, isnt some decision better than no decision? We all have that one crazy family member, and I cant fathom Wrigley Bear ending up with that person.
MSN Moneys Liz Pulliam Weston does a great job outlining why everyone needs the following documents here: articles.moneycentral.msn.com/RetirementandWills/PlanYourEstate/3legalPapersYouShouldntLiveWithout.aspx,
According to Weston, here why you need these documents: A durable power of attorney for health care, which lets you identify who will make medical decisions for you. A durable power of attorney for finances, which designates who’ll handle money decisions. A living will, which tells doctors exactly what kind of care you do and don’t want to receive if you’re terminally ill and incapacitated.
Any attorney can draw these documents up for youand of course, were bias in this regard. There are also various online and software options available as well, and if you consider going this route, do hire an attorney to review your documents. Imagine our friends stress level when realizing her online prenuptial agreement doesnt offer any protection as she enters divorce proceedings.
With Thanksgiving approaching, were thankful to not have needed these documents with either of our families yet, but this is a conversation worth having and documents worth drawing up.
About Us: Were a married couple living in Schaumburg. Nick runs his own law office, www.nickrichardsonlaw.com, and I work in communications promoting eggs.
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Therichardsonstakeatgmail.com.
